The men's soccer team, still recovering from its disheartening 1-4 loss against Brown Oct, 8, rebounded by beating Boston College yesterday 1-0.
On the second game of a four-game road trip, the Big Green pushed across a goal in the 88th minute to down the Eagles after a scoreless first half and quite an uneventful game in general.
Despite the fact that the team had to play without its All-Ivy defender, Ian Saward '95, the remaining players were able to get the job done on their own.
John Bosacco '96, at the very end of the second half, was able to shoot his third goal of the season, which resulted in Dartmouth's well-earned victory.
Basacco felt that the players were concentrating more at Wednesday's game and attributed the change to the way they played on the weekend against Brown. "We came off a tough loss at Brown," Bosacco said. "We knew we were capable of performing better."
Blaine LeGere '95 began the goal-scoring play with a far-post corner kick which David Moran '96 headed back across the goal. Hunter Paschall '96 then redirected the ball to Asa Marokus '95, whose right-footed cross set up the open Bosacco.
"I just was able to get a foot on it and put it in," Bosacco said.
Goalie Brian Wiese '95, who recently had the second lowest "goals-against-average" in the nation, captured his third shutout of the season.
The game was nothing like the one played at Brown Oct. 8. The Big Green suffered greatly from that loss. It was their first of the season and the first of Fran O'Leary's coaching career at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth, now back in a winning mode, holds an Ivy League record of 2-1 and an overall record of 4-1-1.
The defeat was not the only bad news from Providence last Sunday. Saward, a two-time all-Ivy defender, suffered a neck injury in the closing minutes of the game and missed Wednesday's game against B.C. Meanwhile, Bill Cronin '95 is still nursing a knee he twisted during the team's pre-season trip to Scotland.
Dartmouth leaves on Friday for Charlottesville to play in the University of Virginia's Lanzera/Holiday Inn Classic.
The Big Green will take on two nationally ranked Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) powers, playing U.V.A. Friday and the University of Maryland on Sunday.
Princeton will also be at the championship game, although the Tigers and the Big Green will only be playing UVA and Maryland, rather than each other.
The ACC is the toughest soccer league in the nation, and UVA is a strong opponent. The Cavaliers have won the past three national tournaments and will not be easy to beat on Friday.
In fact, two seasons ago, the Big Green lost to the Cavaliers3-0 in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal.
Maryland does not have the same record as Virginia, but they it also a top-20 team and, therefore, a sharp opponent as well.
Bill Cronin '95, although he will not be playing in the games, commented on the chance of success for the Big Green this weekend. "We really do have a chance against the teams, even the Cavaliers," he said. "They've suffered a few losses this year to Boston University and North Carolina, among others, and I know they're not ranked as high as they've been in the past few years. I think we have a good chance."
